Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Robot-Assisted Surgery.

This study compared two types of surgery in the treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. It concluded that robot-assisted prostatectomy could be a safer alternative to simple open prostatectomy. 

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland. An enlarged prostate can affect bladder function and have a negative impact on quality of life. Treatments for BPH may include medication or surgery. Medications for BPH often result in many side effects while surgery can lead to complications.

Open simple prostatectomy (OSP) is a common surgery carried out on men with larger prostates. It involves removing part of the enlarged prostate gland by a skilled surgeon. Robot-assisted prostatectomy (RASP) is a newer surgical method for removing larger prostates in men with BPH. RASP involves using a robot machine to remove the gland and can be more accurate and cause fewer complications than OSP. 

This study compared results of other studies carrying out either OSP or RASP.

It found that OSP had a higher occurrence of complications, higher numbers of blood transfusions and required a longer hospital stay. OSP hospital stays were on average 5.5 days compared to 2.3 days for RASP surgery. Complications included severe bleeding, clots and bladder neck or urethral narrowing. 

RASP was found to have fewer complications and a shorter hospital stay. Though it did take longer to carry out RASP than OSP. 

This study concluded that both procedures have similar improvements on urinary function and lower urinary tract symptoms. It also concluded that RASP patients had fewer complications after surgery than OSP patients. 

The authors note that cost may be an issue. OSP is a cheaper surgery to carry out but due to complications, it can cost more long term than RASP. 

If you are interested in learning more about Robot-Assisted Simple Prostatectomy or Open Simple Prostatectomy, talk to your doctor.